Over the years, the world of home entertainment has changed radically. These days, most U.S. households get at least 50 channels of television programming and have a color television and a VCR and/or a DVD player. The way in which pre-recorded programming is accessed by the consumer is changing rapidly providing the consumer with a wide range of options.
People have had VCRs in their homes for years, and in the United States, there are video rental stores everywhere. More and more households are adding advanced components to their entertainment setup to create home theater systems. As more and more households purchase DVD players, video game consoles, and other advanced media products, video rental stores have had to adjust their inventory to accommodate this changing demand for more advanced media, such as the digital versatile disc (“DVD”). Today, video rental stores include a variety of media, e.g., feature length film DVDs, video games, audio CDs, and VHS videos. In addition, other companies have recently entered the market to offer households a method of renting movies or other media different from the traditional practice of visiting the local video rental store.
For example, Blockbuster®, Hollywood Video®, and Movie Gallery® operate the traditional video rental store. A consumer completes a membership form to become a member of the store, which allows the consumer to rent movies, games, etc. from the available inventory for a rental fee per item. Generally, the rental fee is based on the length of time, e.g., 2 days, the consumer has until the item must be returned to the store. If the item is not returned to the store on time, the consumer is assessed an additional fee/fine for the additional length of time the consumer holds onto the item. Generally, the item is required to be returned to the same store.
NetFlix® is a mail-based method of DVD movie rental. The consumer becomes a member by paying a monthly subscription fee, which allows the consumer to select as many DVDs each month for viewing as long as the consumer has no more than three DVDs at anyone time. The consumer selects DVDs at the NetFlix web site. The DVD is mailed via first-class mail to the consumer, and the consumer returns the DVD to NetFlix using a prepaid mailer at a convenient time—there is no deadline for returning the DVD. After NetFlix receives the returned DVD, NetFlix sends out the next DVD on the consumer's selection list, which is stored on the NetFlix Internet server.
AOL/Time Warner and Cox Communications® provide pay-per-view and video-on-demand services to cable subscribers. The consumer pays a monthly fee to subscribe to the cable services, which provides access to the company's selection of movies. The consumer selects a movie in the comfort of their home and is charged a movie rental fee that appears on the consumer's monthly bill. If the consumer selects a pay-per-view movie, the movie plays on the consumer's television without interruption. If the consumer subscribes to digital cable and selects a movie through video-on-demand, the movie plays on the consumer's television, but the consumer also has VCR-like control over the movie to stop and pause as necessary.
Movielink® is a PC download method of movie rental. Several major movie studios have collaborated to provide access to movies via computer. The consumer selects a movie from the Movielink web site and downloads the file to a computer for a rental fee. The movie must be viewed on the computer and the consumer has a limited amount of time to view the movie before it is deleted from the computer memory.